Requiem (Cherubini)

The Requiem in C minor for mixed chorus was written by Luigi Cherubini in 1816 and premiered 21 January 1817 at a commemoration service for Louis XVI of France on the twenty-third anniversary of his beheading during the French Revolution.

The work was greatly admired by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms.

This particular setting of the requiem Mass consists of seven movements:

In 1820 a funeral march and a motet In Paradisum were added. In 1834 the work was prohibited by the archbishop of Paris because of its use of women's voices, and in 1836 Cherubini wrote a second Requiem in D minor for men's chorus.

The Requiem is orchestrated for SATB-choir, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 3 trombones, timpani, gong and strings. Note the absence of flutes and SATB-soloists, and the presence of a gong, notably in the 'Dies Irae'-section.

A notable recording of this requiem has been made under the baton of Arturo Toscanini, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and Robert Shaw Chorale. Also included in the compilation is the Te Deum from Verdi's Quattro pezzi sacri. A recording of the Requiem in C Minor with the Ambrosian Singers and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti was made in 1982 and released by EMI. The later requiem in D minor was also recorded by the same choir, orchestra and conductor, and released by EMI in 1987.

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